Mega Soft Patient Return Electrode for use during monopolar electrosurgery

The expert advisers stated that any necessary shaving of patients and placement of standard disposable single-use patient return electrodes are normally done at the same time as other tasks and therefore using the Mega Soft Patient Return Electrode would not save as much time as claimed. The committee accepted these views and concluded that using the Mega Soft Patient Return Electrode would not normally result in a substantial reduction in theatre time and the time taken to prepare patients in the operating suite.

The committee noted comments that, even if operating theatre time was unlikely to be reduced, the use of the Mega Soft Patient Return Electrode might be more convenient and reduce the burden on theatre staff. This could include removing the need to: shave some patients; select appropriate sites and fix adhesive standard disposable single-use patient return electrodes; adjust or change electrodes during surgery; or check electrode sites at the end of operations.

The committee was advised that the possible advantages of using the Mega Soft Patient Return Electrode would be significantly influenced by whether it was used for inpatient or for day-case surgery. It heard that at least half of operations performed in the NHS are carried out as day cases and for these a fixed operating table is not generally used. For inpatient operations, the Mega Soft Patient Return Electrode can be placed on the operating table at the start of a day and left in place throughout any operating list. Patients can then be placed on the Mega Soft Patient Return Electrode when they are moved from the trolley on which they are anaesthetised to the operating table. The Mega Soft Patient Return Electrode is left on the operating table and cleaned between patients. By contrast, most day-case surgery is performed with the patient on a trolley. Patients are anaesthetised while on the trolley, which is then moved into the operating theatre and then to the recovery area: the patient remains on the same trolley throughout. This means that at least 2 Mega Soft Patient Return Electrodes would be needed for each day-case operating suite. Otherwise, placing each patient on the Mega Soft Patient Return Electrode would involve more time and inconvenience than applying and removing a standard disposable single-use patient return electrode. The committee concluded that the patient, health system and any cost advantages of the Mega Soft Patient Return Electrode were likely to be realised only when it was used for inpatient surgery and not for day-case surgery.

The committee considered the results from the waste calculator and whether these supported the claim for improved sustainability and the cost impact associated with the reusable nature of the Mega Soft Patient Return Electrode. It accepted that waste was likely to be reduced but was unable to reach any specific conclusions on this because of the lack of validated data.

The committee noted that the Mega Soft Patient Return Electrode is compatible with all electrosurgical generators apart from certain settings on 1 specific generator (see section 2.7). It regarded compatibility with existing electrosurgical generators as fundamental to any consideration to adopt the Mega Soft Patient Return Electrode.

The committee accepted the submitted evidence to support the claim that the Mega Soft Patient Return Electrode has acceptable pressure-relieving properties making it unnecessary (in most operations) for an additional pressure-relieving device to be used.